I've already started being in the X'mas mood… And I've began making my X'mas present tags early! I love adding the special touches to the gift wrapping… :)
Kara's DIY Christmas gift tags
Truth be told, it really take one to be "in the mood" to get some cutting and pasting going! The previous few years I was feeling too lazy and busy to be bothered… But this year, I got my act (and scissor) together to CUT, fold, CUT!!! :P
I think it's also partly because of the early X'mas present that Aunty Ivy gave me…
I dunno how she knew that I love collecting stickers but the present from the Paper Market that she gave me, I SUPER LOVE… Ivy is afterall the queen of handicraft…!!
My first X'mas present for 2010: An album of seasonal stickers!
Vintage-looking adhesives!!! I think I can't bear to use em'!!!
Yes, I am determined.... Determined to complete blogging about my silly food escapade in Tokyo.... Why the determination? It's not like anyone cares, but I learnt from Julia that if you've set your heart out to do something, you gotta complete it.
I'm talking about Julia from the movie Julie & Julia, which I watched on flight.... THRICE. Why 3 times? Yes, the show was a good show but more than that, it really spoke to me as it was a story about Julie Powell, a comtemporary American who attempts to complete cooking 524 recipes from Julia Child (Julia Child's an American staying in France in the 1950s, who took her experiences into a cookbook).... Julie cooks & blogs about the food she whips up, along with how trying to complete all that recipe within a year almost killed her marriage, gotten her into the black book with the boss & how she battled wanting to give up...
It was a fantastic show and it's not the purpose of this blog post to give a movie review.
But if you may, read more of the plot & storyline at wikipedia here...
Especially if you believe in GOOD FOOD and you're a food blogger. This show if FOR YOU.
Here's the continuation of my Day 3 Food Log... This was the day that we spent at Disneyland not taking too much rides as all the fast passes ran out or states that we return when the park closes.
DAY 3 - DISNEYLAND
DAY 4 - We skipped the repeat-telecast Breakfast & headed straight for brunch....
Till today, Randy's still swooning about the super duper TUNA which was gleaming with freshness...
After the heavy lunch of Udon + Rice set(each!), we saw a Takoyaki shop. And we just had to try.......... It was like no Takoyaki we've ever tasted.... YUMMY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
This is the episode of a Singaporean couple who queues-when-there's-a -queue... We'll nv forget the COLD we went through. I thought we were gonna freeze to death before we got to the Ramen....
I know in my early Christian walk, I often question myself if God is real. It's quite normal to ask such questions when you're new in faith and more so typically me to be cynical and unbelieving in such things. But after so many years, I think God has won me over with the fact that He is REAL. There is just too many reasons why He is than why He isn't.
Our cozybay which we're putting up is located in an aging estate where there are more funerals under the void deck than infants in strollers. Somedays when you come home, you see an occasional old lady searching through the rubbish bin. When you place used clothings and useless items at the void deck, it disappears within the hour. Staying here has really put us in touch with the backdrop of the old and aging society in Singapore.
Last Sat, we were grabbing a quick lunch at an old hawker place amongst elderly couples conversing in dialects. As I was queuing up for food, I popped my ears in on a conversation between a group of men in their late 50s having a leisurely lunch. What amazed me was the content of their conservation.
I overheard one man telling the other men in Hokkien that he has stopped drinking because he thought it was "unbiblical".... Another one replied, citing examples from the bible, stating that Christians are allowed to drink during celebrations. He further explained that it was okay to drink, but the key is not to get drunk.
Wow! What could look like a group of men discussing 4D and TOTO numbers turned out to be a group of men discussing biblical truths! It reminded me of this verse in Joel chapter 2:
The Day of the LORD
28 "And afterward,
I will pour out my Spirit on all people.
Your sons and daughters will prophesy,
your old men will dream dreams,
your young men will see visions.
Although these men were not exactly dreaming-dreams but I felt as if these men were deep in discussion of the things of God, speaking words of truth and edification to one another. The verse in Joel was describing a change in the landscape when God starts to move. The landscape has indeed changed! I have observed, personally, that in the past decade or so, there has been more and more Christians around. Even the elder generation who used to believe that the Christian faith is one meant for the western world have also seen & tasted the goodness of Christ.
God must be REAL, otherwise why would more and more people from all walks of life (children, students, housewives, CEOs, celebrities...) be convinced in Him? If Christianity isn't REAL, why would the REAL GOD allow more and more people to "sink" into a "fake religion"? From all the faiths of the world, there is yet one that dared claim to be God Himself. And I do think that if Jesus dared to claim that He is God then I would have the faith to invest my life to follow in Him...
Well... isn't faithbelieving in the power you've yet seen...? ;)
This week was yet another interesting week.... Besides the lil' par-tay that we had for the Teenz Zone Ldrs.........
Youth Ablaze's Teenz Zone Leaders
and our usual Fri Supper Nite Club, I had coffee with a biz partner whom I worked quite closely with previously... They're a major distributor of New Moon Abalone and he brought me a gift....
A box of New Moon Bird's Nest!!! It's not that I'm a fan of Bird's Nest... It's just that I find it so thoughtful of him! And he actually selected the "collagen" flavour, knowing that collagen is nothing but goodness for ladies... :P
Being a salesperson himself, he shared that he wld always bring a gift when he meets up with his clients as it's a "chinese" thing to do (to bring gifts for visitations) and it helps foster goodwill with them. I can't agree more... Another art of salesmanship learnt for me!
On Thursday evening, as I was driving to participate in a Focus Group study, I halted behind a lorry filled with Bangladeshi construction workers at the red light. As I yawned and thought about how I was going to last thru the next 3 hours of "interrogation", I noticed some familiar faces on the lorry!!!!!
A few months back, we volunteered to help out at the International Worker's Banquet organised by our church and I was assigned to wait on the table where the guests were workers from nearby construction sites. I saw this one particular familiar face on the lorry that was sitting on our table during the dinner!
Many of the workers have been here for at least 10 years and most of them tell us they're quite happy to be staying in Singapore....
Here's a photo of them dancing to Bangra-music that nite... (Photos stolen off LSBC's Facebook acc)
Another happy guest at the table...
When the music heightened, even the Minister joined in the dancing!!!!
Oh man.... Thinking about that night just absolutely bring joy to me... I love the whole drum beats and swaying your hands-in-the-air... Seeing it "live" that day with so many happy faces was like something outta a Bollywood movie! That night really touched my heart and I know I will remember it for a long time to come............ :)
I’m currently reading a book given to us by Ezen...
New York Times Bestseller “The Five Love Languages”
by Dr. Gary Chapman
Throughout the years I’ve been casually taught on many occasions abt THE “5 love languages”, and also used many parts of it during our marriage counselling sessions... However, reading the book in a quiet corner dawned new light!
A few things I learnt: TRUE LOVE requires discipline & conscious effort (& the need for personal growth)
Many people fall in and out of love thinking that they’ve stopped loving the other party, without realising that TRUE LOVE goes beyond the emotional lovey-dovey and romanticism. To make a r/s last, it takes discipline to do things that make the other party tick (speaking their love language) and a conscious effort to keep doing it though it may be unnatural for u to! Also, true love is giving the person space to do the things that make them grow. Like giving your guy space to play computer games, go fishing, doing the “dude” things so that they can BE HAPPY....!
And in respond,
-> the partner appreciates and is enriched by your effort
-> u get a sense of satisfaction
-> u keep doing it! So it goes in a cycle... a good healthy cycle of lurrrrvvveeeee..........
Time to refill the love tank!
Love Language #1: WORDS OF AFFIRMATION The bible says in Prov 12:25: Worry weighs a person down, an encouraging word cheers a person up
How true...! In the book, Dr Chapman wrote “All of us have areas in which we feel insecure. We lack courage and the lack of courage often hinders us from accomplishing the positive things we would like to do.”
When I first started to learn photography, it was the positive encouragement from many friends that affirmed me of my works. And that helped push & motivate me to take more! So I guess it’s the same for any relationship... When your boyfriend does something nice, praise him! When he does something sweet, give him a pat on the back instead of comparing with other-perfect-men-on-the-earth (ie: male leads in Korean dramas).
Not only do these lessons work in a BGR/marriage relationship, I’m pretty sure these could help me deal with my in-laws, my siblings, my friends too!
I began to reflect if I had been any encouragement at all to anyone, and I find myself beginning to think about the times that I enthusiastically told a friend how good their works are, how I tell Randy that I’m marrying the right man coz he’s faithful & capable (not to mention handsome... hohohoh...) and writing comments in someone else’s blog to tell them “blog more! I’m reading!”... Are these enough? I think in God’s eye, any amount of encouragement for others will never be enough. Gotta continue to train a positive eye to see others and learn to praise them when they’re at it! ;)
I'm just such a sucker for old songs and movies... I can watch old MTVs of bands like Mr Big (swinging their long messy hair to a rock tune) and re-runs of love stories from the 1980s starring old stars like Michelle Pfiffer, Rob Lowe, John Travolta over and over again... (& of coz, my fav impersonation of the clay-moulding moment of Demi Moore in the movie "Ghost")... hahah..
I was listening to the radio a few days back and this "o-biang" song played on the airwaves... As I listened to the pop-art-ish tune, I imagined the scene to be a pre-war scene, with girls in can-can polka dotted skirts waving goodbye to their boyfriends who are marching off to fight a war... And this song was sung of a girl who's boyfriend was called Billy...
"Billy Don't Be a Hero" The Marching Band Came Down Along Main Street The Soldiers Blue Step in Behind I Looked Across and There I Saw Billy Waiting to Go and Join the Line And With Her Head Upon His Shoulder His Young and Lovely Fiancee From Were I Stood I Saw She Was Crying And Through Her Tears I Heard Her Say
(Chorus) "Billy Don't Be a Hero, Don't Be a Fool With Your Life Billy Don't Be a Hero, Come Back and Make Me Your Wife" And As He Started to Go She Said "Billy Keep Your Head Low Billy Don't Be a Hero Come Back to Me"
The Soldier Blues Were Trapped On a Hill Side The Battle Raging All Around The Seargent Cried "We've Got to Hang On Boys We've Got to Hold This Piece of Ground I Need a Volunteer to Ride Up And Bring Us Back Some Extra Men" And Billy's Hand Was Up in a Moment Ignoring All the Words She Said
(Chorus) I Heard His Fiancee Got a Lettter That Told How Billy Died That Day The Lettter Said That He Was a Hero She Should Be Proud He Died That Way I Heard She Threw the Letter Away
I'm really thankful that we enjoy such peace and security in Singapore... and that I don't have to send my loved ones off to fight wars...!
Like what I always tell (nag at) Randy from the time he was enlisted to the Army few yrs ago, if you can't do it, don't force yourself... Don't risk your life over it!
I'm glad that he survived Army with nothing more than some papercuts.. (Proves that nagging works... ahahhaha) But recent times he's been crazy abt joining Marathons. Sorry for being such an aunty abt it, but the news abt people dropping dead halfway thru a run just scares the crap out of me... esp when Randy is doing a 6 hrs night run. But I'm glad that whenever he's reached his limit, my face would pop up in his head and my deep voice thunders: "You better stop. God made you a human, not a cheetah. You better know your limits coz I don't wanna be a widow!"
